Whenever possible, the Consortium makes preprints, white papers, reports, datasets, and other products
available to the public.
If you would like to request a report, use the REQUEST link below the
description. Provide your name, e-mail, and mailing address.

Following are a few of our papers, reports, datasets, and other products developed by
Consortium researchers:

State Incentive Grant (SIG) Final Evaluation Report
The Iowa Department of Public Health - Division of Behavioral Health and
Professional Licensure (IDPH) was awarded a SIG from the Center for Substance
Abuse Prevention, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The SIG
project ran from October 2001 through May 2006. IDPH made awards to 28
subrecipient sites across Iowa; these sites implemented substance abuse
prevention programs between January 2003 and January 2006. This report
includes both process evaluation and outcomes for the SIG. Over 10,000 youth
participated in substance abuse prevention programs and completed both a
pre-test and a post-test during the SIG project.Report: State Incentive Grant (SIG) Final Evaluation Report

Faith and Community Based Re-Entry Services in Johnson County, Iowa Current research recognized the need for reentry adults to join a supportive community that will provide an outlet for productive personal growth, in order to successfully remain in recovery and/or remain crime free. The daily service offerings and community activities inherent in faith-based membership have the natural potential to provide a supportive environment for adults wanting to start over or rebuild their community choices. Preliminary interviews and focus groups with Johnson County faith-based groups, community corrections staff, and substance abuse treatment staff articulated support and enthusiasm for collaborative work that could make transitions back into community life successful and productive.

Pregnant Inmates: A growing concern Very little empirical research has been conducted on pregnant inmates, a rapidly growing population. It is important to identify the potential needs of these women in order to modify jail and prison conditions to improve birth outcomes. This study compares 53 pregnant inmates to 1160 non-pregnant female inmates on demographic and substance use and abuse variables to begin to understand the needs of pregnant inmates. The study supports other findings that women appear to reduce their drug use during pregnancy. About 90% of the pregnant women had
long-standing problems with substances, mostly illegal drugs. The implications of experiencing pregnancy in prison are discussed.

Older Offenders, Substance Abuse, and Treatment
Objective. The adoption of more stringent truth-in-sentencing laws and the aging of the United States population in general has led to an increase in the proportion of prison inmates aged 55 and older. Recent judicial rulings require prisoners to receive adequate medical and mental health care, in particular care for substance abuse. However, little systematic research has been conducted on the mental health needs of elder prisoners. Method. This study examined age differences in substance abuse history provided by 10,952 offenders as part of their orientation and evaluation for prison placement. Trained substance abuse counselors interviewed each offender and recorded data in an institutional database. Results. Seventy-one percent of elder inmates reported a substance abuse problem. When compared to younger inmates, elder offenders were more likely to abuse alcohol only, yet they were less likely to have ever been in treatment after controlling for treatment history differences in type of substance used. Conclusions. Like their younger inmates, elder offenders would benefit from substance abuse treatment while incarcerated, yet the treatment should be tailored to the age difference in type of substance used and prior treatment experience.

Sex Differences Among Substance Abusing Offenders in a Rural State's Prison System
Current reports of sex differences among offenders in prison point out a number of important distinctions between male and female substance abusers. To what extent these findings can be generalized to rural settings is unclear. We investigated patterns of sex differences in substance abuse in the Iowa prison system. Based on intake substance abuse assessments, the data consisted of 9,741 men and 1,213 women who entered the Iowa prison system from July, 1997 through June, 2001. As with national data, women were more economically disadvantaged than men. Women also reported more mental health problems. Unlike the national data, women in Iowa were more highly educated. Women also had more previous substance abuse treatments and were more likely to have been arrested for a substance related crime when compared to males. Choice of substance was a major factor in the sex differences: women were far more likely to abuse methamphetamine than men. Implications for research, treatment, and policy are discussed.

Pretreatment Predictors of Abstinence Following Substance Abuse Treatment: Projecting Program Success in a Naturalistic Setting
While policymakers and agencies often need to make decisions based on the level of a substance abuse program's performance rather than an individual's outcome, they must consider the
case mix. We present a method that estimates individual program's expected success rate based on the composition of clients served and then compares each program's actual success rate to their expected success rate. Bootstrap confidence intervals can help decide if the program is performing better or worse than expected. A random sample of cases (n = 1,374 from 29 programs) from Iowa's Substance Abuse Reporting System (SARS) received 6-month follow-up interviews. The outcome was abstinence, although the method would admit any outcome variable. Case mix predictors of outcome included client demographics and recent substance abuse history. Results include an estimated probability that each program was producing approximately as many successful clients as would be expected by chance and given its case mix.

Alcohol Use in a State Sample of Rural Elderly
The elderly are vulnerable to adverse consequences from alcoholism, which is often under-identified. We examined alcohol use among rural elders by characterizing its demographic features in a statewide survey.
Approximately 15% of the elderly population was at-risk for alcoholism. This group was younger than the remaining population and only 1% had ever sought treatment. Twenty percent reported concerns by family and 20% reported alcohol-related police interventions.
Enhanced recognition of alcohol-related problems among the rural elderly may have important clinical implications. Further study is needed to define whether earlier mortality or loss of community-dwelling status contributed to the younger age among alcohol-users. A copy of the preprint is available.

Report: 1999 Iowa Youth Survey Report: A Summary Report
of Further Analyses of the 1999 Iowa Youth Survey
This 1999 Iowa Youth Survey (IYS) report contains information relevant to:
1) the identification of IYS questions that are applicable to popular youth
development models (Search Institute 40 assets and Hawkins/Catalano risk
and protective factors); 2) the development of IYS related scales;
3) alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) prevalence rate estimates
(outcomes) for Iowa compared to national estimates; 4) ATOD, violence
and safe environment prevalence rates in Iowa (public school sample)
by grade, sex, race/ethnicity, kind of school program enrolled in and
place live (rural vs. urban); 5) ATOD, violence and safe environment
prevalence rates in Iowa (institutional sample) by age, sex, place
live (rural vs. urban) and type of institutional program enrolled in;
and 6) ATOD and violence outcome correlates. (Note: This report is
not available at the IYS Web Site and is only available here.)
A Summary Report of Progress Made in Analyses of the 1999 Iowa Youth Survey